Desktop Support Contracts

Desktop Support
UK

The median Desktop Support daily rate in the UK is £210, according to job vacancies posted in the 6 months leading up to 6 November 2024.

The table below provides contractor rate benchmarking and summary statistics, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
6 Nov 2024
Same period 2023 Same period 2022
Rank 340 306 318
Rank change year-on-year -34 +12 +22
Contract jobs requiring a Desktop Support 221 368 665
As % of all contract jobs advertised in the UK 0.60% 0.79% 0.83%
As % of the Job Titles category 0.65% 0.84% 0.87%
Number of daily rates quoted 140 263 473
10th Percentile £140 £132 £136
25th Percentile £167 £148 £150
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £210 £200 £200
Median % change year-on-year +5.00% - +17.65%
75th Percentile £234 £230 £250
90th Percentile £252 £285 £292
UK excluding London median daily rate £210 £200 £195
% change year-on-year +5.00% +2.56% +21.88%
Number of hourly rates quoted 13 21 63
10th Percentile £22.61 £16.54 £12.33
25th Percentile - £17.46 £16.54
Median hourly rate £24.18 £19.00 £18.00
Median % change year-on-year +27.26% +5.56% +2.86%
75th Percentile £27.25 £20.00 £23.75
90th Percentile £36.10 £21.75 £25.57
UK excluding London median hourly rate £24.18 £19.00 £18.00
% change year-on-year +27.26% +5.56% +6.87%

All Contract IT Job Vacancies
UK

For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract IT job vacancies. Most job vacancies include a discernible job title that can be normalized. As such, the figures in the second row provide an indication of the number of contract jobs in our overall sample.

Contract vacancies in the UK with a recognized job title 34,101 43,826 76,265
% of contract IT jobs with a recognized job title 92.83% 93.79% 95.20%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,575 29,823 53,347
10th Percentile £300 £298 £315
25th Percentile £413 £413 £430
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £550
Median % change year-on-year - -4.55% +10.00%
75th Percentile £638 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £743 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £490 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -2.00% - +11.11%
Number of hourly rates quoted 1,278 1,528 1,748
10th Percentile £15.09 £14.98 £13.00
25th Percentile £20.20 £19.06 £16.50
Median hourly rate £37.00 £44.75 £28.90
Median % change year-on-year -17.32% +54.84% +44.50%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £60.93
90th Percentile £73.75 £77.50 £71.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £36.00 £44.50 £24.00
% change year-on-year -19.10% +85.42% +33.33%

Desktop Support
Job Vacancy Trend

Job postings that featured Desktop Support in the job title as a proportion of all IT jobs advertised.

Job vacancy trend for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Contractor Daily Rate Trend

3-month moving average daily rate quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support.

Daily rate trend for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 6 November 2024.

Daily rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Contractor Hourly Rate Trend

3-month moving average hourly rates quoted in jobs citing Desktop Support.

Hourly rate trend for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Desktop Support over the 6 months to 6 November 2024.

Hourly rate histogram for Desktop Support in the UK

Desktop Support
Top 17 Contract Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Desktop Support within the UK over the 6 months to 6 November 2024. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -55 183 £215 +7.50% 39
UK excluding London -18 144 £210 +5.00% 32
London -29 74 £215 +4.88% 10
South East -16 33 £215 +7.50% 6
Scotland +32 28 £140 -60.00% 3
South West +22 27 £223 +27.14% 8
North of England +11 24 £208 -5.68% 9
Work from Home +45 16 £207 -5.80% 21
East of England +12 16 £200 +42.86% 4
North West +20 15 £203 -4.71% 6
Midlands -2 10 £175 -18.84% 1
Yorkshire +1 6 £223 - 3
East Midlands +3 5 £275 +27.91%
West Midlands -5 5 £175 -12.75% 1
Northern Ireland -5 5 £155 -7.46% 1
North East -5 3 - -
Wales -6 2 £220 +57.14%

Desktop Support Skill Set
Top 30 Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities

For the 6 months to 6 November 2024, Desktop Support contract job roles required the following skills and capabilities in order of popularity. The figures indicate the absolute number co-occurrences and as a proportion of all contract job ads featuring Desktop Support in the job title.

1 162 (73.30%) Windows
2 88 (39.82%) Microsoft
2 88 (39.82%) Windows 10
3 85 (38.46%) Active Directory
4 72 (32.58%) Customer Service
5 67 (30.32%) Microsoft 365
6 59 (26.70%) Social Skills
7 58 (26.24%) Security Cleared
8 54 (24.43%) ITIL
9 52 (23.53%) Microsoft Office
9 52 (23.53%) SCCM
10 50 (22.62%) SC Cleared
11 32 (14.48%) VPN
12 30 (13.57%) Problem-Solving
13 26 (11.76%) DNS
13 26 (11.76%) Analytical Skills
13 26 (11.76%) Azure
14 23 (10.41%) Finance
14 23 (10.41%) Microsoft Exchange
14 23 (10.41%) Microsoft Intune
15 22 (9.95%) Degree
16 20 (9.05%) DHCP
17 19 (8.60%) SharePoint
17 19 (8.60%) ServiceNow
18 18 (8.14%) Dell
18 18 (8.14%) Citrix
19 17 (7.69%) Video Conferencing
19 17 (7.69%) Android
20 16 (7.24%) Time Management
20 16 (7.24%) Cisco

Desktop Support Skill Set
Co-occurring Skills and Capabilities by Category

The follow tables expand on the table above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. The same employment type, locality and period is covered with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each of the following categories:

Application Platforms
1 23 (10.41%) Microsoft Exchange
2 19 (8.60%) SharePoint
3 7 (3.17%) IBM Notes
4 6 (2.71%) Blackberry Enterprise Server
5 3 (1.36%) CMS
6 2 (0.90%) Exchange Server 2010
7 1 (0.45%) Site Server
Applications
1 52 (23.53%) Microsoft Office
2 5 (2.26%) Microsoft Excel
3 4 (1.81%) Microsoft Project
3 4 (1.81%) Trello
4 2 (0.90%) Microsoft PowerPoint
5 1 (0.45%) MS Visio
Business Applications
1 3 (1.36%) Elite 3E
Cloud Services
1 67 (30.32%) Microsoft 365
2 26 (11.76%) Azure
3 10 (4.52%) Entra ID
4 6 (2.71%) OneDrive
5 5 (2.26%) Slack
6 3 (1.36%) SaaS
6 3 (1.36%) WhatsApp
7 2 (0.90%) Dynamics 365
7 2 (0.90%) Power Platform
8 1 (0.45%) Amazon EC2
8 1 (0.45%) AWS
8 1 (0.45%) Azure Storage
8 1 (0.45%) Google Workspace
Communications & Networking
1 32 (14.48%) VPN
2 26 (11.76%) DNS
3 20 (9.05%) DHCP
4 12 (5.43%) Remote Desktop
5 11 (4.98%) LAN
6 10 (4.52%) VoIP
6 10 (4.52%) Wi-Fi
7 7 (3.17%) Internet
7 7 (3.17%) TCP/IP
8 6 (2.71%) WAN
9 5 (2.26%) Wireless
10 4 (1.81%) NetScaler
10 4 (1.81%) SAN
10 4 (1.81%) VLAN
10 4 (1.81%) WebEx
11 3 (1.36%) Firewall
12 1 (0.45%) Cisco IOS
12 1 (0.45%) Intranet
12 1 (0.45%) Network Security
12 1 (0.45%) WPA
Database & Business Intelligence
1 4 (1.81%) Tableau
2 2 (0.90%) Power BI
2 2 (0.90%) SQL Server
Development Applications
1 3 (1.36%) MSI
2 2 (0.90%) JIRA
General
1 59 (26.70%) Social Skills
2 26 (11.76%) Analytical Skills
3 23 (10.41%) Finance
4 13 (5.88%) Public Sector
5 10 (4.52%) Legal
6 9 (4.07%) Banking
7 8 (3.62%) Telecoms
8 7 (3.17%) Marketing
9 4 (1.81%) Automotive
9 4 (1.81%) Electronics
9 4 (1.81%) Investment Banking
9 4 (1.81%) Law
9 4 (1.81%) Manufacturing
9 4 (1.81%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (1.81%) Presentation Skills
10 3 (1.36%) Games
11 2 (0.90%) Back Office
12 1 (0.45%) Aerospace
12 1 (0.45%) Military
12 1 (0.45%) Publishing
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 2 (0.90%) LDAP
Miscellaneous
1 17 (7.69%) Video Conferencing
2 15 (6.79%) iPhone
3 12 (5.43%) Blackberry
4 11 (4.98%) iPad
5 6 (2.71%) Data Centre
5 6 (2.71%) Driving Licence
5 6 (2.71%) Smartphone
6 5 (2.26%) Management Information System
7 4 (1.81%) Self-Motivation
8 3 (1.36%) NHS
9 2 (0.90%) BYOD
9 2 (0.90%) CMDB
9 2 (0.90%) Data Protection Act
9 2 (0.90%) Enterprise Software
9 2 (0.90%) Handset
9 2 (0.90%) PDA
10 1 (0.45%) Blog
10 1 (0.45%) Enterprise Storage
10 1 (0.45%) Mobile App
10 1 (0.45%) RSA SecurID
Operating Systems
1 162 (73.30%) Windows
2 88 (39.82%) Windows 10
3 17 (7.69%) Android
4 14 (6.33%) Apple iOS
4 14 (6.33%) Windows 7
5 11 (4.98%) Windows Server
6 9 (4.07%) Mac OS
7 4 (1.81%) Mac OS X
8 3 (1.36%) Linux
8 3 (1.36%) Unix
9 2 (0.90%) Windows 8
9 2 (0.90%) Windows Server 2003
9 2 (0.90%) Windows Server 2008
10 1 (0.45%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.45%) Windows Server 2019
Processes & Methodologies
1 72 (32.58%) Customer Service
2 54 (24.43%) ITIL
3 30 (13.57%) Problem-Solving
4 16 (7.24%) Break/Fix
4 16 (7.24%) Time Management
5 14 (6.33%) Service Management
6 13 (5.88%) Mobile Device Management
7 12 (5.43%) Service Delivery
8 11 (4.98%) ITSM
8 11 (4.98%) Migration
9 9 (4.07%) Inventory Management
10 8 (3.62%) Application Packaging
10 8 (3.62%) Asset Management
11 7 (3.17%) Customer Requirements
11 7 (3.17%) Incident Management
12 6 (2.71%) Configuration Management
13 5 (2.26%) Business Intelligence
13 5 (2.26%) Data Migration
13 5 (2.26%) Software Deployment
13 5 (2.26%) Workflow
Programming Languages
1 4 (1.81%) PowerShell
2 1 (0.45%) Python
Qualifications
1 58 (26.24%) Security Cleared
2 50 (22.62%) SC Cleared
3 22 (9.95%) Degree
4 15 (6.79%) Microsoft Certification
5 13 (5.88%) A+ Certification
6 11 (4.98%) BPSS Clearance
7 8 (3.62%) MCP
7 8 (3.62%) MCSE
8 7 (3.17%) Dell Certification
9 6 (2.71%) ITIL Certification
10 3 (1.36%) DBS Check
11 2 (0.90%) DV Cleared
12 1 (0.45%) AWS Certification
12 1 (0.45%) CCNA
12 1 (0.45%) CCNP
12 1 (0.45%) Cisco Certification
12 1 (0.45%) CTC Cleared
12 1 (0.45%) IBM Certification
12 1 (0.45%) ITIL Foundation Certificate
12 1 (0.45%) MCSA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 15 (6.79%) SLA
2 2 (0.90%) QA
3 1 (0.45%) 21 CFR Part 11
3 1 (0.45%) Accessibility
3 1 (0.45%) GxP
System Software
1 85 (38.46%) Active Directory
2 7 (3.17%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (2.26%) VMware Infrastructure
4 3 (1.36%) BitLocker
4 3 (1.36%) Terminal Services
5 2 (0.90%) XenApp
5 2 (0.90%) XenDesktop
6 1 (0.45%) Firmware
6 1 (0.45%) Hyper-V
6 1 (0.45%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 52 (23.53%) SCCM
2 23 (10.41%) Microsoft Intune
3 4 (1.81%) AirWatch
3 4 (1.81%) AppManager
4 2 (0.90%) Jamf Pro
4 2 (0.90%) Terraform
5 1 (0.45%) Active Directory Federation Services
5 1 (0.45%) Systems Management Server (SMS)
5 1 (0.45%) WSUS
Vendors
1 88 (39.82%) Microsoft
2 19 (8.60%) ServiceNow
3 18 (8.14%) Citrix
3 18 (8.14%) Dell
4 16 (7.24%) Cisco
5 13 (5.88%) HP
6 7 (3.17%) Lotus
6 7 (3.17%) VMware
7 6 (2.71%) Apple
8 5 (2.26%) Intapp
8 5 (2.26%) Ivanti
9 4 (1.81%) Adobe
9 4 (1.81%) Alteryx
9 4 (1.81%) EMC
9 4 (1.81%) iManage
9 4 (1.81%) Okta
9 4 (1.81%) Samsung
10 3 (1.36%) Avaya
10 3 (1.36%) SAP
10 3 (1.36%) Sophos